In the News...

For Elderly Even Short Falls Can Be Deadly

7/11/2012

Because of the increasing age in the general population, the number of elderly patients visiting the emergency department with ground-level falls is increasing, and will likely continue to rise in the future.

It is now estimated that 30 percent of adults older than 65 years will experience an unintentional fall each year. Elderly patients are three times as likely to die following a ground-level fall compared to their under-70 counterparts.

Pedagogy’s online education course “Managing Falls In the Nursing Home: Who, Why and What Next?”focuses on the prevention of falls in the elderly. For many years, it was assumed that falls were unavoidable accidents, due to just being old, and that nothing, apart from restricting a resident’s mobility or placing them in physical restraints, could be done to prevent falls. Over the past several years, however, interest in fall prevention flourished and, as a result, our thinking about falls has dramatically changed. We now have a better understanding of why falls occur and, more importantly, what can be done to prevent falls from happening. The biggest lesson we have learned, however, is that while falls may occur often, falls can never be accepted as ordinary events; since there is a great deal that we can do to prevent them.

CLICK HERE to view the course curriculum, objectives, pricing or to purchase the class.